A Certain Dark Lord
by The One Above God
Summary: Soma Cruz, the reincarnation of the Dark Lord whose resurrection cycle was ended back at the Battle of 1999, moves into Academy City to hide from his pursuers. Little does he know that the safety he seeks will all be washed away by a certain right hand.
1. Chapter 1 A New Dawn of Sorrow

"_Perhaps there is a need for the dark lord...But there is no reason at all for you to become the __**dark lord.**__"_

"_They were born at the same time as Dracula's demise. They are __**inheritors of Dracula's dark powers.**__"_

"_From here. I will set off to fight against my own __**fate**__…"_

"_So…it has __**awakened**__…"_

"_You…you have a __**dark power**__ within you…"_

"_Finally...I clearly understand...everything. __**I am...Dracula.**_

* * *

"Ugh!"

Somewhere within a bus heading to a certain city in Japan, a young foreign man in his twenties, who has apparently lived in Japan since his childhood, with natural white hair, wearing a similar colored fur coat, black shirt, blue jeans, and white boots that would have looked bad worn by others aside from him, suddenly wakes up from a deep slumber.

"Dammit…I can't believe I'm still remembering those…Although, I guess it's not so bad having those memories remind me of _who I really am…"_

"Okay everyone, we are now about to enter the city where most of the world's brilliant minds gather; the city where technology is always at its peak; the city of science; none other than Academy City!" said a female voice that came from a speaker within the bus.

Academy City—a city of science and the most technologically advanced place in the world. As the city's name suggests, it is a city of several schools and institutions of higher learning from kindergarten to university level that learn side-by-side along with the scientists who research on psychic powers and higher technology, the latter being one of the primary reasons for its establishment. It is the most advanced city in the world and its technology is said to be 30 years ahead of the world.

Academy City is composed of 23 districts, called School Districts, which are simply numbered from one to twenty-three and each of these districts have a specific purpose.

"I still can't believe I'm going to this place that seemed right out of a sci-fi novel…then again, I'm not one to talk since the recent years of my life _are just as strange" _muttered Soma to himself.

Academy City is enclosed by thick walls all around it. To enter or leave the city, you must first go through the proper procedures, then through one of the entry points.

As soon as the bus Soma is riding gotten past the entry point, something _struck_ the white haired boy.

"Gbh?! Wha-?! What…is this…?"

Soma is struck by some kind of _pressure_ that somehow feels like very small needles stabbing into all of his pores simultaneously. Although it doesn't feel painful to him, it does feel uncomfortable.

As soon as Soma recovers from the _shock_ the entry to the city gave him, he saw _something_ or rather _someone_ along with other_ people_ and _buildings_ that seem to shimmer and look so thin that if a strong wind blows, they'd probably get blown away.**[1]**

As the bus strolls through the city, he can see some of these _buildings pass through _other buildings. But these other buildings don't look as thin as the _others_. In fact, it's not just the buildings, even the people passes through other _people_. While Soma is mesmerized and at the same time puzzled by this scenery, the _someone_ he saw first, someone who looks the same as the _other people_ yet also different. This glasses wearing, long-haired girl with pretty huge breasts, is now sitting next to him and looking at him straight in the eyes. Being at the back of the bus, no one noticed the girl appearing out of thin air next to him.

The girl who has suddenly appeared next to him now seemed to have a more _physical_ form. Soma also noticed that his surroundings aren't shimmering anymore. He now can't see any _people_ or _building_ passing through one another. The pressure he felt earlier was also gone now. And as he looks around him and outside the windows, his eyes seem to adjust more and more like he just woke up and finally, the discomfort he felt earlier is now gone and it's as if the _foreign_ feeling the city first gave him has finally dispersed. He now feels more comfortable. As he indulges himself in this short-lived delight, the girl who appeared next to him finally broke his train of thoughts by speaking first.

"Ummm… mister… you can see me earlier can't you? _Including the_ _others,_" said the girl in a cute yet shy voice.

"Ahh.. yes, yes. About that…mind telling me about that? Your name also. By the way I'm Soma Cruz"

"Oh! Please forgive my rudeness. I was just shocked to see someone who is able to perceive _that realm,_" said the girl with teary eyes. "My name is Kazakiri Hyouka. Ummm..Cruz-san was it? I would like to tell you about _that_ but not here. Also, I can't right now. Please forgive me, but I'm taking my leave now. _Should we meet each other again by the next time I manifest in this realm I would explain to you what you just saw. _And when that moment comes, _please tell me what you can,_" said Kazakiri with a smile before fading away like dust blown away the wind.

Being caught off guard by a smile from a beautiful shy girl made Soma blush as it somehow reminded him of his childhood friend Mina Hakuba. Aside from that, he was surprised to see Kazakiri vanish without a trace on such a short notice. Having recovered, he pondered to himself.

"What was that? Weird…Anyway, I wonder where Julius-san and Yoko went? They said they're going to meet up with me somewhere in the city…Maybe they are still making negotiations with Academy City…"

Julius Belmont is a descendant of the legendary clan of Vampire Hunters, the Belmont clan. Noted as the most powerful Vampire hunter ever, although he did get some help, he defeated the Dark Lord, Dracula, once and for all and stopped his resurrection cycle. This lead to the count getting reincarnated to its current self, Soma Cruz—the inheritor of the powers of the polar opposite of the Almighty.

Yoko Velnadez, on the other hand, is also a descendant of another legendary clan, the clan of sorcerers—the Velnadez clan. She is a member of Neccesarius and a very powerful Sorcerer at that.

Both Julius and Yoko made secret arrangements with Laura Stuart, the Archbishop of the Anglican Church and the leader of Necessarius, to negotiate with Academy City regarding Soma's safety.

Academy City agreed to hide Soma for the following conditions:

Soma will attend A Certain High School in Academy City that the higher-ups will assign.

Soma will live in a student dormitory in District 7.

Soma will be exempt in any activities regarding the Power Development Curriculum except for the written exams.

Any breach in Neccesarius' security with Soma and his identity will not be a responsibility of Academy City, instead, the other students' safety will be taken as top-priority over his safety, and that Soma Cruz may be expelled from the city depending on the damage he might cause in the city.

_Seriously, I can't believe I still have to study for tests. On top of that, I'm back to second year of high school. I'm even qualified to go to any university outside of Academy City, or I could just work. Then again, Academy City's curriculum is said to be so advanced that college subjects may have already been mastered by Elementary or middle-school students…sigh…_

As Soma thinks about this, the bus finally came to a stop. They were instructed out of the bus and was told that faculty members of the school they'd attend to in the city are outside their bus and are waiting for them.

"Hmm… I wonder where Tsukoyomi Komoe-san is? It says here that she'll approach me right away as soon as she sees me..," said Soma as he goes down from the bus.

"Ummm…Soma Cruz-chan was it? You're Soma Cruz right?" asks a short, pin-haired girl, who is roughly at 135 centimeters of height**[2]**.

"Yes, that's me. What do you want little girl?" Soma said with a smile while lowering himself to the height of the girl.

"Wha?! Tha-that's rude! While it is true that I am quite small, I am a teacher, you know. I am also much older than you. It would be best for you to keep that in mind. A-Anyway, *coughs* my name is Tsukoyomi Komoe. I'll be your new homeroom teacher and I'm here to drive you to your dorm." said Komoe, the small teacher, in an irritated way while pouting her lips.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Hey, why are you not saying anything Soma-chan? Did you not hear what I just said?"

"Tha-that so? Then I'll be in your care then Komoe-sensei. My name is Soma Cruz. Although I have my foreign origins, I have lived here in Japan since I was little. I am male. I came here to transfer in a high school in Academy City. My age is…" said Soma with all color seemingly leaving his face and an overly polite smile while scratching the back of his head

"Wa-wait! What's with that overly polite smile? And why are you going pale? Are you having heat stroke or something?! Let sensei get you a cold drink first, 'kay?" said a frantic Komoe as she runs to the nearest vending machine to get a cold drink.

Having remained in his position, Soma thought, '_Seriously?! __**That**__'s going to be my homeroom teacher?! She looks so young?! What is with this place?! First shimmering people and now this?! What the hell?! Is this place an undercover Castlevania after all?!'_

* * *

After clearing the misunderstanding with the small teacher, Komoe then drove Soma to his new dorm in District 7. There, Komoe said that his dorm mates aren't home yet because they are still at school, the same school he will be attending. Komoe also said to him that although his new neighbors may go crazy from time to time, he can assure that they will be good people. Also, since he is going to begin his new school life the next day, Komoe said that he can rest for the rest of the day, and that Komoe will pick him up tomorrow.

After setting up his things and eating, Soma then decided that he should take the day off and sleep for the rest of the day so that the seal on his powers may be able to reinforce itself.

Right before coming to Academy City, Yoko Velnadez, Julius Belmont, Genya Arikado, several members of the Hakuba shirne, and Laura Stuart herself performed a seal on Soma's dormant powers. The seal indefinitely reinforces itself by taking in the mana in the surroundings, and in the presence of leylines, the power of the world, and uses it to strengthen the seal and lock it with a random, more complicated, magic array. With Soma's powers sealed, he cannot freely tap into the well of vast dark power within him but only the ones it leaks, but that's enough for him to forcibly break the seal even if he doesn't want to. A living body's natural response to restraints is to escape from it. That's why even if he doesn't want to, he will subconsciously break through the seal with the leaking powers. That's why he needs to be unconscious. Although Soma's powers is too strong to completely seal away, the Archbishop said that the leaking powers could be used by the seal to strengthen itself, but that's only applicable when he is unconscious as his leaked powers will be too strong for the seal to use and will instead eat the seal away, little by little.

With this thought in mind, Soma has decided to sleep the rest of the day off to allow the seal to reinforce itself as much as possible.

* * *

The next day, he is woken up from his slumber by a knock from his door—it was Komoe-sensei. Komoe waited for him to get ready so that they can go to school. As they arrive at the school, he can feel numerous stares coming from all around him. He can even hear a girl saying, "Kyaah! A Bishie!" and other numerous screams.

After arriving in Komoe's classroom, she immediately introduced Soma Cruz to her whole class. Being guided to his seat by the window, he can, again, feel numerous stares coming from all around him. He then noticed a certain black spiky haired boy looking uncaring about what's happening, well barely uncaring. If it wasn't for what the black spiky haired boy is troubled with.

"Crap crap crap crap crap…..my food…how am I gonna live by this week with just potatoes? Curse that gluttonous nun! Her very un-nun like behavior is sending my finances down the drain! Maybe I should hand her over to the Amakusa or the Anglican church, but wait, I can't afford to trouble others. Then again, this poor Kamijou-san has been very troubled with that glutton for a long time now so I guess it's okay…sigh…good thing Kanzaki and Itsuwa are coming to visit…or was it the whole Amakusa?" weakly muttered by the spiky haired boy to himself as his forehead touches his own desk which was only audible to Soma for having superhuman senses.

_I guess I shouldn't bother this guy. Looks like he's got a lot of shit going on with him._

* * *

Lunch break comes and Soma is immediately surrounded by people. Asking him many different questions. Some girls even asked whether he has a girlfriend or not. Of course he honestly said no, **[3]** which made the girls quietly squeal to themselves which made him wonder what's wrong with them.

As he finishes his convenience store bought lunch, he then approached the spiky haired boy earlier.

The reason for this is that he heard the term "Anglican church" from the boy's monologue earlier. He also remembered that he was supposed to meet up with Julius and Yoko who is a member of Necessarius of the Anglican church.

"Ummm…mister, you looked troubled earlier." Said Soma as he approached the boy.

"Don't worry about that guy nya~. Those things are just everyday stuff to him nya~" said a blonde spiky haired boy who is wearing sun glasses even indoors.

"Yeah, Tsuchimikado is right. That bastard Kamijou's filled with misfortune. Though a lot of his so-called 'misfortune' involves girls, which can't really be called "misfortune" when you properly think about it! Kamijou, you bastard, don't tell me you've got a new one!" said a tall blue haired guy with piercings, who seriously gives off an aura that he is quite powerful, while clenching his fist in annoyance to the so-called Kamijou.

"What the hell is it now Aogami?! Why the hell did your response escalate quickly into one about girls?! Also, how many times do I have to say that I'm not collecting girls! What am I? Some kind of harem manga protagonist?!" said Kamijou who is clearly annoyed of Aogami's statement.

"Are you insulting us you bastard? Having several foreigners, a couple of ojou-samas, and a few other random girls fawning over you isn't called having a harem?! What does a harem mean to you huh, you bastard?! Having more than 10000 girls**[4]**, each having superb battle qualities at your disposal? Although with you, we can see that becoming possible! You might even already have a seductive goddess and some kind of thought being!"**[5]** said both Tsuchimikado and Aogami in a synchronized manner.

"Okay, I'll admit that a lot of them are quite intimate with me, but there's just no way this Kamijou-san can have that many girls fawning over me, much less one girl! There's just no way with my luck!" immediately retorted Kamijou with tears in his eyes.

"Okay, that attitude of yours is pissing us off. We know you are really misfortune-filled but we can't tell if you are faking it or you are just fucking damn pessimistic! Hearing **you **say that is like being punched in the gut by someone with superhuman strength who is a part of a group of less than 20 of that someone's kind!**[6]**" said Tsuchimikado while clenching his fist.

Just as the three of them are about to brawl, Soma cut in their conversation by saying, "Umm…excuse me, sorry to interrupt but I just want to say that having a harem is actually pointless. Although you may have many girls around you, once you choose one, it's pretty much over. So having a larger number just gives you variety…nothing more. If else, it will give you a harder time to choose…" said Soma in a voice that although not very loud, was heard by the entire class.

"Hmmm… that's right. Having one you truly love is better than many that you can't pick from" said a guy in the background.

"Yes, it all, in the end, comes down to one. Having many would just make the choice harder.." said another guy.

Immediately after the background voices, all the guys including Tsuchimikado, Aogami, and Kamijou, immediately nodded repeatedly in unison.

* * *

Now that the commotion has subsided, having actually forgotten what he was supposed to do in the first place, Soma Cruz brought out his hand to the trio.

"My name is Soma Cruz. Pleased to meet you."

"I'm Tsuchimikado Motoharu" said Tsuchimikado as he shakes Soma's hand.

"You can just call me Aogami Pierce like everyone else **[7]**" said the guy called Aogami as he too shakes his hand.

"Hi, I'm Kamijou Touma" said Kamijou as he reaches for Soma's hand. And as his hand grabs hold of the other's…

_**The high pitched sound of breaking glass rang out.**_

* * *

**Author's notes:**

**[1]Due to Soma still adjusting with the city (and his leaking powers) he was able to, for a moment, simultaneously see the Imaginary Number District and the physical plane. You can expect to see this again in the future.**

**[2]Due to his heightened physical abilities, he was able to estimate Komoe's height**

**[3]Mina isn't his girlfriend here. I made it that no progress was made between him and Mina after DoS.**

**[4]The Sisters**

**[5]Othinus and the Will of the Whole Misaka Network**

**[6]Saint**

**[7]His name, as far as I know, hasn't really been stated yet.**

**I hope you guys liked it. This is actually my first work so there are bound to be flaws. **

**If you've read the chapter properly, especially Kamijou's earlier dialogue, you might be able to guess what happens next chapter :D.**

**Still not gettin' it? How about a preview? :D**

* * *

"**You. What are you, an existence so vague even in the magic side, doing here?"**

"**I don't know what you're talking about…"**

"**You won't get away from me!"**

_**She's fast! Black Panther!**_

_**Nanasen!**_

_**Valmanway!**_


	2. Chapter 2 The Dark Lord's Return

_**Dominance**_

_The power to absorb, command, and __**dominate**__ the souls of otherworldly creatures._

_It's the power I gained…no, awakened when I entered Castlevania, Dracula's castle and symbol of power, in the year 2035._

_The power enabled me to summon, command, and use the abilities of the monsters whose souls I've absorbed by killing them._

_With each soul granting me a new ability… the longer I was in the castle… the stronger I became…_

_The power which I, along with other people who knows of it, simple call __**Dominance**__ for convenience, has also allowed me to absorb weapons… because they have become a part of my very soul, it also enabled me to assimilate their history, composition, the skill of its previous users, everything. Although the names are a bit vague because some of them are called by many names throughout their history, I just call them with whatever clicks in to me or the most common one…It allowed me to replicate the weapons too… some weapons are apparently too powerful to replicate at first and must be summoned so that I can use them, some are alive and cannot be reproduced simply with the power I have, some are, even though have been fully assimilated, won't even allow itself to be used unless deemed worthy by itself thus making its reproduction impossible…This also applies to things other than weapons._

_Among the weapons I cannot reproduce, even with the power I temporarily wielded back when I set off to fight my fate in the Chaotic Realm, there is one that stood out for me…perhaps it was meant to be that way for it is a Sword of Light after all…Claiomh Solais—the indefatigable blade of light that can cut through all. Its name may be different than what it actually is supposed to be called, but I just named it that since among the many names I've learned from its history, that name stood out the most. It is one of the weapons I failed to reproduce, but it is the most trusted blade I have...And with it, I plowed my way through the castle of 2035 to get back home, and through the castle of 2036 to prevent the rise of a new Dark Lord and to get rid of my power…_

_Yes, Dominance, the power that should've disappeared along with the castle created by the cult "With Light" remained within me…That's why we resorted to sealing my capability to cast magic along with my __**innate**__ power._

_And right now…the power which remained awake within me and should be sealed right now just got released with a simple greeting and a handshake from the right hand of a certain spiky haired boy who is now my classmate…_

"_Hi! I'm Kamijou Touma"_

* * *

*BOOM!*…is what it would have been like if there's an actual explosion…well, there is but it's more of an _invisible_ one.

As soon as Kamijou's right hand touched Soma's, a high-pitched noise rang out and an invisible explosion of some mysterious power, mostly magical in nature, occurred.

This explosion with Soma in the center spread out to all directions all at once. With seemingly no speed, the explosion reached everyone around the world or even the entire universe and…

* * *

Somewhere in a certain room filled with bathtubs in a certain headquarters of a certain church organization in a certain city in England, a short, big-breasted, long-haired, blonde, Archbishop who was sitting on the rim of a tub fell down in the water with a shock.

*BAM*

"Wha-…What is this…?! Styil!"

"What is it Archbishop?" said a tall red haired man who has suddenly entered the room because of the Archbishop's call.

"Did you feel _that?_"

"Yes, of course. It would be weird if a magician, no…a living creature anywhere within this planet or perhaps even beyond didn't feel _that._"

"Then get out of here and head to Academy City! _Immediately!_ Oh, and take Aulin with you. I'm sure she's probably got a call as instructed by _that old man _right now._"_

"Madam! Mr. Styil!"

Suddenly, a woman, or more accurately, a girl who is about the same age as a certain silver-haired, green-eyed, grimoire library living in Japan, has brown hair, and wears a blue and white outfit barged in the room.

"I got a call from Pope Yogdis and I'm here to tell you that I'll be going to Academy City to assist Yoko-san!"

"*sigh* That's what we're talking about just now. Anyway, just go! The two of you! GO!"

* * *

Somewhere in a certain enclave within a certain city in Italy, an old man who once lead two billion people is suddenly approached by another man who is currently leading that two billion.

"Oh, Pope Yogdis why did you come here so suddenly?"

"You know why I'm here former Pope Reese. I came here to ask you for permission."

"Permission for what?"

"_That!_ I came here to ask you whether I should permit the use of the "Fish of the Supper" or not! This is a serious case! That surge of _strange_ power just now cannot be anything else! It has got to be him! Last 2035, something similar happened. Although the world couldn't really feel it, during a certain solar eclipse, magic institutions and the three great Christian churches detected a world-wide spell with the eclipse being used as a symbol, and that very spell suddenly disappearing as if it was broken! It could only mean that _he _returned from the Battle of 1999! We dismissed the case because we did not detect any great power later on and have decided that it was just the spell's great power showing its influence due to this world temporarily connecting to _that world_ through the symbol of the eclipse, but in the year 2036 another similar case occurred. Only this time, we, the magic related people all over the world, detected the Dark Lord's presence to be somewhere in Japan, the same country where most of the spell detected in the previous year's power was concentrated. After the temporary surge of power all over the world, Julius Belmont, who we all thought was dead and regards as one of the greatest heroes of the magic side along with his ancestors, reappears and reports that the power felt was from a _Castlevania_ created by a cult of the Dark Lord's fanatics who are trying to create a new one from those who received power following _his demise!_ Julius Belmont said that he, along with Arikado and a Velnadez, annihilated the group along with the castle, so why did we feel that explosion of power just now! And it seems it has spread all over the world in just an instant! Only this time, it's much stronger as even normal people felt it! There are only three possibilities: Julius failed to do his task, _The_ Dark Lord came out of hiding since 2035, or Julius Belmont is _hiding something._ Are you listening former Pope Reese?! This is urgent matter!"

"Calm down, Pope Yogdis. The Fish spell can only be granted permission by you, right? You do not really have to ask for my advice regarding that matter. I have entrusted the position of the Pope to you because I know that you can lead the people more properly than I can. And besides, the Fish can only be used when there's a common enemy for the two billion people of our church, just like during the war in 1999. You can't possibly use that spell right now when you don't even know who you're dealing with yet. Also, _that guy_ who is also in Japan right now so there's nothing to worry about. He can just do what he did back then. I'm thinking of sending _it_ to him right now but I think I'm going to hold it for now. And if he is hiding something, well, _I think he has a good reason for doing that._ You can just rest assure there my friend. You can just contact Annihilatus's Morris for that matter. You can request for them to have him assist Julius. You could also contact Necessarius's Aulin to assist the Velnadez who is with Julius. "

"You know something, don't you former Pope Reese? Anyway, I'd do just what you suggested."

* * *

Somewhere in a certain headquarters of a certain side organization of a certain church in Russia, a beautiful blonde nun who is also the leader of the certain church side organization is cheerfully arranging some outfits that range from cosplay to skimpy ones inside a cabinet, that is when a shorter blonde nun with the red part of her clothing standing out barged in the room.

"Vasilissa! Did you-!? I mean, my first question: Did you feel that overwhelming surge of magic, no…strange power just now?" said the shorter blonde nun.

"Ah Sasha-chan, you didn't have to ask me that now, did you? Also, look at that. It looks like Joseph-kun got a call from Pope Yogdis."

"So, it seems… My second question: Have the patriarch ordered anything yet?"

"Hmmm? No, I'm afraid not. Anyway, if you're talking about that spell we were supposed to use against that former Magic God but ended up using against a not so ordinary high school boy, then I guess it might be used once we have identified the enemy. After all, _this is our purpose anyway."_

"I guess so.."

"Vasilissa, Sasha," said a blonde boy who is around the same age as a certain spiky haired boy in Academy City, has blonde hair, and wears a red vest with shoulder plating over mostly blue clothing.

"Oh, what is it Joseph?" asked Vasilissa with a smile that would have looked creepy on someone else other than a beautiful or a seductive woman.

"I'm going to Academy City."

* * *

Somewhere in an isolated jungle island somewhere in Southeast Asia…

"Michelle! _That _right now…It felt like the one in that castle…only different…it's much stronger, more potent, and _darker…_ Let's go! I'm sure Julius-san is headed to Soma-san right now! Something must've happened!" said a man who is about the same age as a certain Amakusa saint, with glasses, blue clothing, and a whip tucked to his belt.

"Calm down Curtis. If Soma-san ever lost control, the world would've gone dark. More monsters would've come out on this island, and that _thing_ within you would've reacted as well. Well, I guess it did, but I think it would've made a bigger reaction if it's the real deal…Also, the monsters in this island didn't even look excited. They seem to be just as surprised as we are. None of them increased in strength either… Besides, if it's the real deal already, what could we possibly do? If ever, we're just gonna be additional corpses. So stay put and continue your training and I'll continue mine. Your scythes may not be as strong as the original one, and they may not have the same capabilities, but that thing that you now possess is an essential tool against monsters and human alike. That'll be your trump card, so I'd appreciate it if you'd continue your training… I don't what _that_ to happen again…" said a woman with a figure that gives the impression of her being a gymnast, or an acrobat.

"Ok…I'll follow that… I don't want to see your crying face again…just like that time…"

* * *

Somewhere in an "island" created by the natural gathering of ship wreckages in the ocean somewhere near Japan, a man(?) in blue clothing, that looks a lot like one an aristocrat from the 18th century would wear and at the same time resembles an armor, sits on a metal throne while drinking wine.

"He~ Things are certainly getting interesting…That power just now…It's him right? I guess my fateful clash with Alucard will soon come…To be revived shortly after Death defeats me…Those Graham cultists can be useful too, huh?… Oh well, nothing can be done now since I disposed of them~"

Just as he said that, several hundred, no, even thousands of bats came flocking in towards him…

"Ahahaha! This is great! All your reports are pointing towards the same city! Haha!"

*Snap!*

With the snapping sound of his fingers, the flock of bats soon exploded in a bloody mess that disappeared shortly..

"Looks like conquering both the world of man and chaos is now closer in my grasp! Academy City…wait for me…"

* * *

Somewhere in a certain bedroom in a certain Supernatural Agency in Japan, a beautiful black haired man awoke from his slumber.

"This is-?! What the hell happened now?!"

"Arikado-san!"

Suddenly, a girl of about 18-19 years of age, with shoulder length, blonde, wavy hair, who gives an adventurous yet noble, or you could even say rich impression suddenly barged inside the one named Arikado's room.

"Maria-?!"

"Arikado-san? It's me Marina Renard. You must have seen a vision of my ancestor. Though, a lot in my family thinks that I look a lot like her based on the available portraits of her…_Guess you really loved her huh gramps?_"

"Don't call me that. I knew revealing to you my real identity would result into this… Only the higher-ups in this agency knows about my identity, so I would appreciate it if you would keep your mouth shut about our relation."

"Yeah, yeah…Anyway, I've been meaning to ask this: Why didn't I inherit any vampiric traits from you if I, a descendant of Maria Renard, am your descendant? Doesn't that make no sense?"

"Well, being someone who has turned himself away from his fellow vampires, I actually do not know much. But as far as I know, vampirism can be inherited by chance from non-pure vampires like me. With the chances getting lower the less blood you have from your vampire ancestor. And as for my father, since he isn't a natural vampire, my vampirism was inherited by chance too. So that's that. But when it comes to pure and natural vampires, their vampirc traits are sure to be inherited. I was there when our child was born. I didn't sense any vampirism within him. No, there are no late bloomers. Even though I don't know much about the natural ones, I've seen several quarter vampire getting born from a half-vampire, born from an unnatural even, and a human before and I've immediately sensed their vampiric powers. So unless any of my descendants got together with another vampire, then you won't have any vampiric traits."

"Hmm… I see, wait… you just revealed some of Dracula's origins, didn't you? What's this about him being an unnatural? A-anyway, what do you mean unless some vampire got in the family while you were gone, we won't have any vampiric traits? I thought you said it was by chance dictated by the amount of blood you have from your vampire ancestor? Then shouldn't I, or any of my ancestors, have had a chance to have vampiric traits? The potency of the magic the Renards have had drastically improved starting from Maria Renard's offspring because of your blood right? Then why didn't any of us inherit any vampire traits?"

"Oh, I see…I forgot to tell you that once a generation didn't inherit any vampiric traits, the inheritance will then stop there, and only the other things like a fraction of a vampire's magical potential will be the only things to get passed. So unless, just as I said before, any of your ancestors got together with a vampire, or have been turned into a vampire, then you wouldn't have any vampiric traits."

"Eh? Seriously? *sigh* Anyway, Arikado-san did you feel that surge of power right now?"

"Oh, right…that…tsk great I totally forgot about that because of your stupid question. Let's go."

"Heee~… you just got lost in thought due to reminiscing about my ancestor, didn't you? Also, where are we going?"

"Shut up about that. Anyway, prepare your things. We're going to visit the city of science."

* * *

Somewhere in a certain district for airports in a certain city of science…

"Haaa! Julius-san we've finally reached Academy City. I can't believe we almost crashed while we're inside that supersonic passenger plane. It's already bad enough that the plane is going past the speed of sound, then a sudden burst of power just had to hit us. _Though I guess if you're anywhere within this realm, you wouldn't escape such a thing, _right Julius-san? A-anyway, I wonder what happened to Soma's seal? Did some cult fanatic do something to get him to break his own seal or some overly powerful being forcibly broke it? It could even be that someone with the same level of magical knowledge as the Index Librorum Prohibitorum or the grimoire library herself analyzed and broke the seal for whatever reason. At this moment, it is still possible for her to do so. What do you think Julius-san?" said a blonde woman with a sexy figure who is probably in her late 20s.

"I…I don't know…It could probably be a third party breaking it…but how? Even if the grimoire library is in there, she couldn't have possibly analyzed the seal that quickly. Your Archbishop said that Soma just arrived yesterday afternoon. Even if the grimoire library sees him, it would probably take her a week to fully analyze the seal that she's seen…and that seal even evolves by the second, so a seal that would take her a week to analyze would have been gone a second after she sees it, and the next one would take longer to analyze by a few minutes or hours or even days. Such is the nature of that seal which creates random pattern over pattern…Just what happened…? Yoko, let's take our luggage somewhere immediately." Said a man in his 50s with brown hair, and a body build that gives the impression that he's not someone to be messed with.

"Roger, but what are you planning to do once we've stored our luggage somewhere?"

"Do you even have to ask? We're going on a hunt."

* * *

Somewhere in a certain alley in a certain district in Academy City, a boy with black spiky hair, and a white headband writhes as blood runs down from his nose and mouth…

"Gbh!? Wha-what the hell is this?! You! What kind of gutless thing did you do to damage me like this?!"

A few meters in front of him, a thug, most likely a robber, is losing consciousness.

"…"

"Geh. He fainted? How gutless of him. If only he stayed conscious for a little longer, I would have injected more guts into him. *cough* So that must not be him, huh? But still, what the hell was that just now? *cough*"

* * *

Somewhere in an apartment within a certain district in Academy City..Yomikawa Aiho, a member of Anti-Skill, is frantically calling for an ambulance.

"Quick! There are three kids here who need medical attention! We can't afford to waste mor-"

"I'm very sorry ma'am, but all of our ambulances right now are still in use. Apparently, a lot of students all over Academy City collapsed all of a sudden. We're stil-"

"Dammit! Yoshikawa let's go. We'll take them to the hospital right no-"

"That won't be necessary Yomikawa…"

Suddenly, a bloodied white haired, red eyed boy who is known as Academy City's strongest calls out from behind Yomikawa.

"Accelerator…No, you shouldn't stand up! Blood is still-!"

"Shut up! I'll take care of this. I'll bring Worst and this brat there too so there's no need to worry…*pant* I have a rough idea of what hit us just now..*cough* Once I take them there, I'm gonna need to have a talk with some spiky haired motherfucker."

Just as Accelerator said this, he reached his trembling fingers to the choker-style electrode on his neck and switched it to "esper mode". As soon as the electrode has been switched, he effortlessly picked up the two bloodied girls lying near him and immediately went out the door without even waiting for Yomikawa or Yoshikawa to say anything. Seconds after the door was closed, an exploding sound can be heard from the outside.

* * *

Somewhere in another apartment within the same district…Hamazura Shiage grimaces on the scene in front of him.

"Wha-what is this!?"

In front of him are three girls lying on the floor. That scene is already strange in itself, but what really ticked Hamazura off is the fact that these three girls are lying on their own pool of blood. With this horrible scene in front of him, Hamazura, still unsure of what to do, decided to go out of the apartment and steal a car for the three girls to be transported in so that they may be sent to the hospital.

'_Goddamit! What the hell is this shit?! I was just going to meet up with Takitsubo and the others in Mugino's apartment when something strange happene-!'_

Hamazura who is running towards a car suddenly realized something.

"That's it! Since I'm a low level esper, the effects of that phenomenon just now on me was just some strong headache and bit of bleeding, but for high level espers like Mugino and the others… Crap, that must be it. That thing is definitely related to mag-"

At that moment, Hamazura Shiage's words were cut off by the crashing of a white object, or more accurately, human shaped object, right in front of him. The impact was so great, Hamazura was blown back for a few meters before coming to a stop.

"What the?! Ka-Kakine-san?!"

The one referred to as Kakine is supposed to be Kakine Teitoku—the second strongest in Academy City. But right now, his form is highly unrecognizable as he is, as of now, crumbling.

"Kakine-san! What's wrong?! Oh, crap that's right! You're a high-level esper too! Shit!"

"Don't worry Hamazura-san…"

As the Kakine said this, his form slowly returned to what it's supposed to look like—a beautiful pure white boy with green eyes.

"I am more resilient than a normal human…so I'll be fine…that phenomenon just now…What was it? You seem to have an idea of what it is…"

"To be honest, I really don't know…what I have an idea though is the nature of that thing earlier…Anyway, I know it's rude but will you please help me bring my friends to the nearest hospital?"

"Hmmm… I see…I suppose Kamijou-san knows about this too? Alright, I'll help you… But afterwards I'm going to have to ask you a few questions Hamazura-san."

"O-okay…_'fuck! What should I do?! Should I really tell him about magic?! I don't even know much! I guess I'm gonna have to ask Boss about this later…I'm sure he is in some way connected to this…'_ Thi-this way… Kakine-san.."

* * *

Somewhere in a certain library of a certain school in a certain district…a girl with chestnut brown hair is writhing along the ground while bleeding from her mouth and nose next to an unconscious blonde girl with big breasts who also happens to bleed the same way as the chestnut brown haired girl.

"?! Shoku-*cough* Shokuhou! What the…What the hell is this….?!"

As Misaka Mikoto, the chestnut brown haired girl, slowly regains her composure, she finally realizes the gravity of the scene around her… _Every esper inside the library of Tokiwadai Middle School is collapsed on the floor and bleeding from their mouth and noses…_ Not only that, it seems that both her and Shokuhou Misaki, the big breasted blonde girl next to her, are losing more blood compared to the others.

"Crap! I need to get them out of here..!"

"Mi…Misaka…san…"

"Shokuhou! Don't! You lost more blood compared to the others here, you should rest first!"

"Misaka-san… That judging ability of yours still surprises me…I don't think a simple resting ability can do much about torn blood vessels…or damaged organs…for some reason all of us here are suddenly magically injured from the inside… and besides, aren't you the same, Misaka-san? Judging by the looks of everyone else here, including us, it seems the only two Level 5s here are the ones that took the most damage…"

'_Magically, huh? Wait, don't tell me this is related to that idi-'_

The chestnut brown haired girl's thoughts was suddenly cut off by the collapse of Shokuhou Misaki who was trying to stand up.

"Wait! Shoku-*cough* wait…I told you to rest, dammit."

"Misaka-san…I know this may be selfish of me…and that this may be totally illogical for my thinking ability, I know being pessimistic won't help, but in this state, before a doctor could even check on us… so before that happens, _I want to do whatever it takes, no matter how stupid, to see my prince at least one last time…_If it's about him, I believe I can last much longer than just sitting here waiting for nothing…" said Shokuhou with teary eyes.

"Shokuhou…"

Seeing Shokuhou Misaki like that, Misaka couldn't help but feel sorry for her and the rest of them there. With most of the students of Tokiwadai being high level espers, if the event that happened a while ago was really magic-related, then, judging from what she's heard from _that idiot_, there's no helping any of them. Perhaps a certain doctor could help them out one by one, but It would be impossible for that doctor to do it for all of them…

At that moment, Misaka felt like crying. She felt like crying for all of there who may or may not die. She felt like crying because she herself is sure that someone's life will disappear just because of some weird phenomenon. She felt like crying because as she begins to wallow in despair, Shokuhou, who is just in front of her, is still desperately crawling to get outside the library just so she could see "her prince". She felt like crying because as she begins to form an idea of who her "prince" might be based on past events, she also realizes that this person cannot possibly save them all on his own this time. She felt like crying because, as she can do nothing but to ponder and despair, she realized that she won't even be able to say goodbye to her loved ones….

…and as Shokuhou Misaki finally collapses, Misaka Mikoto's tears finally flowed out of her eyes…At last, Misaka Mikoto has finally cried, but not because of what happened to Shokuhou Misaki… it is because of the appearance of two figures, one of them she's seen with a certain idiot. Misaka Mikoto has finally cried because…

"Priestess-sama, there are people here too."

"Okay, you handle this library and I'll go handle the other places here in this "School Garden".

"Yes, Priestess-sama."

"Oh, and once you finish here, I want you to take go help the other Amakusa…I'm going to look for the root of all this"

…at that moment, she knew that she, Shokuhou, and everyone else, are now saved…

* * *

…Somewhere within a certain alley in a certain district in Academy City, Soma Cruz is panting hard while clinging to a wall with his hand…

"Shit! Fuck! Dammit! What the hell?! I thought the seal was supposed to be…! Goddamit! Why the hell did this happen?! I thought I'm practically the only one that is not on a level of a Magic God that could forcibly break the damn seal! Fuck! Because of the seal breaking all of a sudden, my unleashed powers ended up hurting people…even those guys back there…"

As Soma Cruz, ponders about what just happened, he recalled the events that happened earlier…

A few minutes ago…in a certain classroom in a certain high school in a certain district in Academy City…The seal on Soma's powers was suddenly broken...

As the seal breaks and his power unleashed, all the people in the classroom, no, the entire school...fainted with some of them profusely bleeding from either their mouths or noses.

Yes, everyone he saw in the school was affected…

Some bled and was able to stand right up despite looking quite groggy…

Some completely fainted while bleeding…

That includes Tsuchimikado Motoharu, who was standing right in front of him…

That also includes Aogami Pierce who is standing right next to Tsuchimikado, and is for some reason, bleeding like crazy compared to the others…

Everyone he saw in the school was affected…

Even the teachers who are non-espers…

Everyone except for one…

…and that person is Kamijou Touma who he was just about to shake hands with when the seal suddenly broke…

…just as his hand touched Kamijou Touma's…

"His…right hand…was that the reason…? His…right… hand…is…the…cause-!"

Just as Soma figures out the cause of his seal's destruction, his thoughts was suddenly cut off by the crash of something right in front of him…or rather, someone….

"I finally found you…"

...and now, right in front of Soma Cruz stands a tall Japanese girl, with her black hair tied in a ponytail. Her clothing looks a bit strange too due to the asymmetrical impression it gives, but nonetheless sexy. But the time to compliment the girl's sexiness is not now, as this girl who suddenly appeared right in front of him is oozing killing intent like crazy.

"You…you're the root of all this, aren't you?" said the girl in a surprisingly calm manner.

"I-…I don't know what you're talking about"

"I see…still playing dumb, huh? That sinister aura, that great magical energy…Though there seem to be difference, I know that feeling anywhere. I fought a member of your kind once and barely won…To think that a _vampire_ can release this much power _that pierced the soul of everyone in this city and even crippled most espers just by being in contact with it…even though they didn't directly use magic._ Tch…You, a vague existence even in the magic side…what are you doing in this city?"

The ponytail girl's tone this time sounded obviously darker…The atmosphere earlier was already really tense, but now it seems like a slight movement from Soma could trigger the girl into using the nodachi she's holding that he just noticed was there.

"…"

"I see, so you still intend to do as you please, huh? Looking down on humans, hurting them…is that how you vampires entertain yourselves?! I cannot let you go any further…as a vague existence even in the magic side, it is unclear whether the one that should pursue vampire related matters be Neccesarius or Annihilatus… in that case, the two organizations made a treaty to solve those kind of cases together…and right now, as a member of Neccesarius, as someone who swore to be the salvation of those who cannot be saved, if it will serve as the salvation of those you've hurt…then I, Kanzaki Kaori, the Supreme Pontiff of the Amakusa-style Remix Church and a member of Neccesarius, shall declare my magic name—Salvare000 to take you down."

As these words are given to Soma by the girl named Kanzaki Kaori, the tension in the air spiked-up several times. The silence between them that came after Kanzaki's declaration, was suddenly cut off by the sound of the air being sliced.

'_Nanasen!'_

"Oh, shi-!"

With the sound of things being sliced, the ground Soma was just standing on, along with several trash bins around them, have been cut to pieces.

'_Crap, I need to get out of here!' thought _Soma as he dashes out of the alley into the open street.

As Soma runs along the road, he finally noticed something strange.

_The street is empty even though it is the middle of the day_

In fact, Soma, who began to try and feel his surroundings due to the attack of a certain girl, cannot feel any presence of any human around him. Not even in the buildings that run along the street.

"So, you've finally noticed"

As Soma ponders upon the strange scene around him, another crash came along with the voice of the same woman who tried to turn him into minced meat before.

"If you're thinking of blending into the crowd, then I've already got that covered. I've already set up a people clearing field with an area of several kilometers before tracking you down. You won't be able to find people to use as a shield so easily."

"Wait! You've got it all wrong. It is true that I am the cause of what happened earlier, but that was just an accident! My power was originally sealed, and with the destruction of the seal, it was unleashed! I didn't release that much power on purpose! If I have that much power, then even if I try to suppress it myself, my power would still stand out among the crowd! You're a magician yourself, you should know that power this great can't be hidden so easily."

"I don't want to hear your lies! I'm pretty sure that as a vampire, you are a skilled magic user. You could've set the seal on yourself and set a timer to it that makes it self-destruct after some period of time. I don't know how you did it but I'm sure you did!"

Immediately after Kanzaki said that, more wires came in from different angles to cut Soma into pieces.

"Shit! Listen to me! I didn't want to hurt anyone! That's even the reason I came here in Academy City…to avoid fighting! Also, I am not a vampire! I only have traces of a vampire's powers. But technically, I'm still human! Even though I have this… this dark power…I wouldn't use it to needlessly hurt anyone!" said Soma as he dodges Kanzaki's attacks

"Shut up! You just proved that you're a heretic that must be eliminated! You're a human who sought vampire powers and is now hurting your fellow humans!"

'_Crap, what's with this woman?_' thought Soma, and as Kanzaki let out more wires, right now, it became clear to Soma from the girl's words and actions that she is being led by her emotions. As Soma realizes this, he also thought that there must have been a lot of people who feels the same way as her. He also thought that they would've immediately shouted their magic names once they find out the source of the disaster that just occurred…

…and so… Soma has decided. _'I will end this for now,' _thought Soma. And as he said that, a seemingly normal looking katana with beautiful decorations, that gives of the feeling of "gentleness" came out of thin air and into Soma's right hand.

"I'm gonna end this fight…and I'm going to use this sword—Masamune: _Yawarakai-Te_ to prove my point."

Soma finally let out a declaration.

It's not a declaration of war, nor a declaration to kill.

It's a declaration that he is going to defeat Kanzaki, without killing, her to prove his point that he is not one of those chaotic, powerful, bloodsucking monsters…even though he possesses the power of the most powerful of them all, he is going to use that power to show Kanzaki that he won't go the same path as them, by overwhelming her, sparing her life, and then simply talking about the problem at hand, he will completely defeat her, without killing her.

* * *

In a street somewhere in District 7, Kamijou Touma is frantically running.

"Shit! Where the hell did Soma go?! Fuck! Why the hell did Kanzaki turn off her communication spiritual item?!"

Kamijou Touma, is currently running around to find Soma Cruz—the one who is in the center of all this. Also, the one whose seal he's broken.

'_Crap, I know their mission was supposed to be top-secret, but couldn't they have informed at least me?! They all know that I live here in Academy City, so even if we didn't become classmates, the chances of me accidentally breaking his seal is definitely not zero...and with my luck…'_

"Goddamit! I hope Kanzaki doesn't do anything stupid"

Earlier, before Kamijou left his school, a few Amakusa members came to heal the students at his school. They've informed him that they all came along with their priestess to Japan. They also told him the specifics of what's happening and that the Archbishop of the Anglican church just recently informed them about that too. Also, it seems that reinforcements from Neccesarius are coming too, 2 of which have arrived and the other 2, on their way.

"Great, Soma is missing, and Kanzaki can't be contacted by anyone. Given her personality, once she tracks Soma, she may just attack him right off the bat! Not only that, but it also seems that the reinforcements who already arrived in the city are also really powerful. I must do something to put an end to this now…I can't have this city turning into a battlefield again…"

As Kamijou runs down the street, he finally noticed that something was off.

'_Everyone is missing…Is this Kanzaki's? The reinforcements'? Soma's? Fuck! That means I'm getting closer'_

Realizing that, Kamijou ran farther ahead, and then…two people came crashing down right in front of him…no, crashing would be a bit off. It's actually more like the two people who came down from the sky landed very gently in front of him.

The scene that presented itself in front of Kamijou made him realize that the two people in front of him right now are very skilled. Even still, Kamijou put up his guard.

'_I definitely won't win this. Even so, I may be able to escape from the two of them if timed right. Unless, they can move at supersonic speeds, I won't have that much trouble…" _thought Kamijou. But as this thought appears in his mind, he noticed that there seem to be no hostility coming from the two in front of him. In fact, the atmosphere right now was so calm that he was even able to examine the appearance of the two in front of him.

'_Hmm…this old man's dangerous…I can tell from his beard….wait, why the hell am I basing battle capabilities of someone off of his beard?! A-anyway, this guy's really dangerous…Even an amateur like me can say that much…and this woman…'_

As Kamijou examines the very attractive woman in front of him, the woman tilted her head in curiosity as to why the boy, who is in guard, is looking at her in a strange manner.

'_Da-damn…this woman's dangerous in her own way too…I'm sure if Hamazura sees her in a bunny costume… I'm gonna have to say goodbye to him soon…'_

With Kamijou examining the woman, the atmosphere became tenser than before. The silence also became somewhat stronger. Then…all of a sudden, the silence and the tension in the air was broken by the woman.

"Hey, are you checking me out?~ I don't really mind it even if you're younger than me~" said the woman in a dangerously playful manner.

"Ah, no, no… It's not what you think! It's just that…Who are you?"

With the mood broken, Kamijou didn't have a choice but to ask them a question.

"Hnnn? Didn't any of the Amakusa tell you that we are coming? You're Kamijou Touma, right? The Hero of World War III; the savior of Hawaii; the one who "defeated" Magic God Othinus—the _Imagine Breaker, right? I mean, if it's not you, then how are we not able to detect you with our spell even though you're right in front of us?_"

As the woman in front of Kamijou said those words to him, he is once again reminded of the fact that he is becoming more and more popular to the "other side" of the world. Before more thoughts pour into his head, he immediately introduced himself to the two.

"I'm Kamijou Touma. Nice to meet you. Sorry for being a little too cautious of you two earlier." Said Kamijou feeling a little embarrassed.

"Oh, don't worry about that. If someone I don't know dropped from the sky all of a sudden, I too would be on my guard. You actually did the natural thing. Still…" said the man beside the woman as if he's examining Kamijou "your body build isn't all that different from an average high school boy, but the air coming from you when you're on guard makes it evident that you've already experienced countless battles…_perhaps even more than mine_…You're scary kid. The fact that you survived countless battles despite having physical stats not far from any normal delinquent high school boy makes you more of a monster than me who survived all my battles because of the special power I was born with."

Hearing this, Kamijou couldn't help but feel more down as he recalls events from the past.

"Oh, please…I'm not really special…I only survived those battles partially because of my comrades who helped me, and partially because my misfortune kept bringing me into a battlefield and lets me survive just so it could bring me to another one…Fuck my life…"

Seeing this, the duo could not help but feel sorry for the guy. They also felt bad because they know that they can't improve the boy's luck with anything supernatural because the boy's imagine breaker would just negate it.

"Now, now, that's enough. Let me introduce myself by the way. I am Yoko Velnadez—a magician of Neccesarius. And this is my partner Julius Belmont—the most powerful vampire hunter ever."

"Greetings," said Julius as he bowed his head.

'_Ho, he's not even trying to deny or be honest about Yoko-san's claim, huh?'_

"Anyway, I'm sure you already know why we're here."

"Oh yeah! I have to find Soma! Kanzaki too!"

"Kanzaki? Oh, that's right! I forgot Kaori-chan was here in Academy City too!"

"Let's go you two. I can sense two figures fighting nearby. It must be the two of them."

"Eh?! They're near! So I was right! I was getting closer, huh?"

"C'mon, let's go before more damage to the city is made." Said Julius who is obviously already eager to go.

"O-okay."

"Now then, let's go, Kamijou-kun~" said Yoko as she wrapped her hands around Kamijou to do a princess carry.

"Wa-wait…isn't there something wrong with this?!"

"Don't worry about the small details Kamijou-kun. It will be faster to get there like this,"

Immediately after Yoko spoke, _Kamijou saw a building collapsing not so far away from their position._

"Okay, let's go~!"

Right after Julius and Yoko jumped into the air, a strong wind mixed with dust suddenly hit them. Smoke can also be seen around the area of the building's collapse. And as both Julius and Yoko, who is carrying Kamijou, head to their destination, the Imagine Breaker boy let out one final scream.

"Something's definitely wrong here!"

* * *

Blades are clashing.

Rocks and cement are flying.

Two figures can be seen running, flying, jumping; doing whatever they can to maneuver through the battlefield to get an advantage over their opponent.

One figure wields a sword of about two meters of length along with several wires, while the other only wields a single sword with a blade length of about 80cm to parry the simultaneous attacks of the other.

Yes, the one wielding the relatively shorter blade is defending against the simultaneous attacks of both wires and the 2 meter sword that exceed the speed of sound from the other person.

The answer how that's possible is quite simple.

_The relatively shorter blade's swings come at different angles all at once._

Forged by the legendary sword smith Gorō Nyūdō Masamune, the sword Yawarakai-Te is a legendary blade made to compete with the Juuchi Yosamu of Muramasa—a pupil of Masamune.

Having transcended life and death through binding his soul with his swords, Masamune was able to live on up to the time of Muramasa and teach him the ways of swordsmithing. And in a competition between teacher and student, the swords Yawarakai-Te and Juuchi Yosamu were created. Both having swordsmithing skills which steps into the realm of the supernatural, the swords they both created in that contest between them—their best swords forged, both possess supernatural qualities.

With Juuchi Yosamu being a "blood-thirsty" sword that gains more cutting power as more enemies are slain, the Yawarakai-Te, on the other hand, is a gentle sword that refuses to kill unless it is a merciful act. While the Juuchi Yosamu enables it's user to swing it in very quick succession regardless of physical abilities and strike the weak points of its targets; the Yawarakai-Te enables each swing to come at different angles at once as if many swords are swung all at once from many different directions and angles, it also enables its user to "ignore" space.

That's why Soma Cruz, the one currently wielding Yawarakai-Te, or Masamune instead, chose to use it against his enemy—Kanzaki Kaori. It is because he is sure he cannot kill with it, and it will enable him to defend against Kanzaki's simultaneous attacks with her nodachi and her wires. Also…

Kanzaki Kaori and Soma Cruz are exchanging blow after blow with their weapons of choice. As Kanzaki is beginning to get pushed back little by little,

'_His movements are getting better by the second! I have to get away first to prepare'_

While in midair, she immediately prepared a three-dimensional magic array using her wires to create a wall of fire between her and Soma to buy her some time to temporarily retreat. And as the fire begins to erupt from the magic array—

'_Is she trying to escape? Guess I have to use __**it**__, huh?'_

_Soma disappeared from his place in midair and reappeared right in front of Kanzaki. As if seemingly distorting space in what can be called an instant for a Saint._

"?!"

"Got you..!"

Immediately after appearing in front of Kanzaki, Soma swung Masamune in full force knowing that it will still be blocked by Kanzaki's own weapon. This resulted in Kanzaki being pushed back with an overwhelming force while in midair, flying through the air beyond the speed of sound, and hitting a twenty-story building which caused the collapse of said building.

"*cough* How did he-?!"

Not wasting any time, Kanzaki immediately went out of the rubble to retreat. But before she could get far away from the site…

'_She's really fast. Crap, I won't be able to catch up with just my current physical abilities. I was already barely defending myself from her before… If it wasn't for Masamune's properties, I would have been minced meat already… I can't let her call reinforcements; this will just get messier…' _thought Soma as he gathers energy and looks deeper within his soul to find what he need _'Black Panther!'_

The air around them exploded, creating enough forces to send the human sized chunks of rubble into the air like a bullet. Some trees that are still intact in the surroundings barely remained standing after the huge shockwave. And the cause of the shockwave is none other than Soma Cruz who in attempt to intercept Kanzaki, activated the ability of the black panther-like creature, that resides in the castle of Dracula, whose soul he _Dominated_ before.

This ability allows Soma to move in unimaginable speeds that can easily outclass normal saints. This also heightens the speed of his thoughts and reflexes to be able to move in the speeds the Black Panther's ability gives him.

'_Such speed!'_

Before Kanzaki knew it, she was already pinned to a wall by a golden chain.

"Gbh?!"

With a slight delay, Kanzaki finally felt the shock of her hitting a building's wall and the chain forcibly restraining her in a speed that even blinded a saint like her.

"Now, let's talk. I can't have you calling reinforcements if there are any. I also can't have you unrestrained for now because, with your speed, you can easily escape from me with my guard down and using that ability again will only drain the human part of me and make the other side of me take over faster."

"…"

"Good. Now, don't try and escape from that. You will only waste your efforts. Nebula—that whip that is binding you right now has a will of its own. It binds evil. You may be thinking that this whip will bind to any human because of the evil within us all but that is not really the case. In the place I got this from, this whip generally reacts to killing intent. It nearly bound and completely annihilated me as well because of my dark powers…well, _not until I overpowered it_ but let's not get to that…"

Perplexed of the young man's words, Kanzaki could only ask.

"Why are you telling me this…?"

While sheathing his sword, Soma answered her.

"It's because I want to gain your trust. By telling you of a way to get out of those restraints and putting away my weapon, I am showing you that I am not hostile and I won't be. I could've easily killed you but I didn't. Look"

As Soma said that, a turquoise colored longsword appeared on his right hand. And as he prepared to swing that sword, Kanzaki could feel strong energy coming from it, and then…

Suddenly right after Soma swung the sword, the top of the building Kanzaki was bound to was destroyed. It was cut until it turned into dust. Yes, it was not some unknown kind of attack that released huge amounts of energy to completely vaporize a target. It was the kind of unknown attack that used high amounts of energy with the wind as its medium to cut the target at a blinding speed.

The part of the building Soma targeted have been cut repeatedly in an instant to the point that it just became dust.

"Valmanway. I could have easily killed you but I didn't. If I did try to kill you, Nebula would have come out and tried to bind me, because I'm going to kill indiscriminately, even though it deemed me worthy to use it."

Kanzaki displayed a horrible look on her face; a fact that made Soma fluster.

'_Oh, crap I think I overdid it. Now we're back to zero. How the hell am I supposed to convince her now?!'_

"Ummm… Kanzaki-san? Please don't worry too much about what just happened. It just so happens that energy is building up inside of me and I had to release it…Yeah, that's it let's go with that…A-anyway, I wasn't trying to show-off or something, got that? I-in exchange I'll tell you about Valmanway and Yawarakai-Te—"

"That's not it…"

Still with a horrified look on her face, Kanzaki cut off Soma's words.

"Look behind you."

Soma was confused for a bit but immediately turned around when he finally sensed a huge presence behind him.

What was behind him was a giant man. Or more accurately, a giant man-like figure made of non-living parts—a golem. But, this golem is different than the one a certain gothic-lolita wearing artist creates. It is one that is made up of all kinds of metals that have been reinforced and altered to defy the natural laws that are usually related to metals. That alteration also allowed the golem to freely choose which law to allow, in the situation, to apply to it, like gravity which enables it to stand straight and use its weight in its advantage.

It is the metal giant that even Julius Belmont had a little trouble with—The Iron Golem.

* * *

"What…the hell…?! Why is it here?"

"I don't know, why are you asking me?!"

"I don't know either, let's go!"

Before Soma could undo the restraint of the Nebula on Kanzaki, she broke it herself with her strength as a Saint.

"Guess saints really are powerful, huh? Why didn't you try to escape in the first place?!"

"I-I was trying to check why you restrained me instead of killing me. A-anyway, if that thing is your enemy too, then fighting it together now would be easier."

"Right…anyway, don't approach that guy carelessly. It has ridiculously strong defenses that even Valmanway, who can use even the space as it's medium, has difficulty cutting. I could try using _that sword_ but it would drain me faster in my current condition."

"Then what do you suggest we do? I can feel a ridiculously strong power coming from it."

"It's gathering power from the surroundings. The magic needed to assemble it and provide its basic commands like walk, attack, and other things, is really small. The power he uses to do those commands and maintain its own, even the assembly of its parts, on the other hand is coming from its surroundings itself. And with my own power being probably used by it as a fuel…tch, if only I can use Astral Veil right now we could switch the two powers and easily kill him. But I am quite drained right now thanks to someone."

"Oh, so you are blaming me right now, huh? How about I finish you right here and now?"

Right before they could argue, the golem made its move. Despite of its large size, the 20 meter golem jumped up at about its own height and slammed right in the place where Soma and Kanzaki were standing on. Soma and Kanzaki, who have superior speed to the golem, immediately saw the attack and were able to get out of the way long before the golem landed.

"How is that thing able to jump that high? Its strength must be really remarkable to be able to do that."

"'Remarkable', huh? So are you saying that you could lift that thing and jump up? Well, with a saint like you, I could see it happening. Regarding that monster's abilities," Soma explains as he dodges the attacks of the golem along with Kanzaki, "I already told you about the two powers residing within it, right? The small power that created it, the Mana from someone, and the power that keeps it from breaking, its 'life force' that it got from the converted Mana in the surroundings. Of course, It already has a set amount of what it can consume from the surroundings. The act of simultaneous consumption and conversion of Mana(to life force) only happens once the Golem has already reached the maximum amount of what it can absorb since being created. Even if you damage it now, the consumption-conversion won't stop but the amount of "life-force" it will have remaining in its body will be less due to the constant 50/50 rate process. By the way, the power it consumes is used to maintain its form, strengthen its materials, give it strength, and, of course, the power to defy the laws of this world."

"The laws of…this world?"

"For example, how do you think that thing would have been able to jump without crushing the ground below it? It may have strength enough for it to be able to jump without defying gravity, but this isn't Castlevania. The road would break and he wouldn't be able to jump; it wouldn't have been able to stand there earlier. The same goes for things like rusting, or magnetism, or heat. That thing can't be defeated by any normal nuke, no matter what the kind. If you're going to defeat it, you will need the supernatural, got that?"

"I see, I guess I am going to have to use it."

"Eh?"

Just as Soma reacts in an almost stupid-like manner, Kanzaki was already in an iai-goshi and quickly used her nodachi to cut the iron golem in half.

"Ho-how did you do that?!"

"Oh, that's right. As far as I'm concerned, I'm indebted to you for telling me about the strange golem so I guess I'm going to tell you for us to be even. What I used right now was Yuisen—a technique that has the power to harm even the Power of God. It's a certain kill move"

"Power…of God?!" Soma said outloud while still shocked of what Kanzaki said, _'This woman has the power to hurt even Gabriel?!'_

"A-anyway Kanzaki-san now that the golem was gone, can we talk? We also need to figure out where that came from…Iron golems don't just appear randomly…"

"Oh yeah, that reminds me…You still haven't explained much earlier. You also mentioned something _regarding the Demon's castle_."

"Ah, ummm…how should I put it…?" as Soma swallows his own saliva, he started to sweat nervously when Kanzaki suddenly moved herself close to him in the blink of an eye, "Aren't you a little too close Kanzaki-san?"

"Bear with it. You should be glad that I didn't immediately go for the kill when you were still off-guard."

"O-okay. Regarding Castlevania, my powers, that golem, and everything so far…"

Before Soma could even begin explaining, the road they were standing on suddenly collapsed.

* * *

A second earlier, while Kanzaki and Soma are still off-guard, over _20 Iron Golems about thrice as big as the previous one fell around them_.

The overwhelming mass and the shock that came from their fall caused the road around them to collapse.

Although with a slight delay, Kanzaki and Soma were able to move away from the more than 20 monsters that just appeared.

"This is bad. Why the heck did this many have to appear now?! I've never seen this much of them since-"

Soma's words were cut off by the 10-meters long, 24-inches wide great sword that swung down directly above him.

*clang*

With the sound of metal hitting metal, Soma guarded against the attack with Valmanway.

Immediately after, the the sword that just attacked Soma was cut to pieces with turquoise colored blades of light along with the invisible figure holding it. With a cry of pain, the figure who attacked Soma finally disappeared.

"An Alastor, huh? Who is sending them here…?"

Before Soma could even wonder more, Alastors, about the same number as the Iron Golems that just appeared, joined in on the battlefield. With Kanzaki repeatedly cutting down Iron Golems and Alastors alike, Soma immediately went to fight alongside her.

And then…

About a hundred meters away from Kanzaki…a crying little girl appeared in the center of the battlefield.

With most of the Iron Golems and the Alastors defeated with only two of each remaining, one of each was alongside the crying girl while in a stance as if they were going to crush something; one of each was fighting both Soma and Kanzaki, with the blade wielding one dueling with her.

As expected, Kanzaki immediately went for the girl who was about to get crushed, while the Alastor she was just fighting went after her.

With all this happening, Soma's thoughts were racing as fast as it had when he fought the strongest Vampire hunter.

Aware that sound couldn't reach Kanzaki in her current speed, he used a high level spell that enables for his words to be heard by their target instantly, something that's commonly done in high speed magical battles with one magician conversing with the other.

"Kanzaki! That's a trap! Both types of monsters have high battle capabilities! They can immediately distinguish weak opponent from a strong opponent!"

But it was too late. Kanzaki is already within attack range of the three monsters. Soma has disposed one of the four while the three are all near Kanzaki.

'_Fuck, I will be only able to kill one of those three. With two plus that trap girl…crap.'_

Obviously, Soma's actions can't keep up with his thoughts. The exchange starting from the appearance of the girl to Soma heading towards the group only happened within a tenth of a second. He knows his words reached Kanzaki, but the woman couldn't react fast enough because of the speed she's going while in midair and the shock of being fooled by the enemy. No matter what happens now, her actions will have a lag and it will be enough for one of those monsters to kill her.

"Black Panther!"

Soma unknowingly shouted the name of the beast that gave him the ability to move at incredible speeds.

Without caring whether the power exhausts him, Soma immediately went to kill the Alastor that was tailing Kanzaki.

Valmanway, the turquoise colored blade that he was holding disappeared and was replaced by Juuchi Yosamu-the Muramasa.

With all the intention to kill his opponent, Soma immediately cut down the Alastor.

"Gwooooohh!"

He knows that even with Black Panther's speed, he would only be able to stop one of them at best. He knows that summoning another weapon to assist him will only delay his actions. He knows that whatever he does now, Kanzaki is going to get killed because of her own kindness. He knows that aside from the Black Panther and other magic along with all his weapons, he currently cannot access any among the arsenal of abilities he gained in that Demon Castle. He knows that only a miracle can save Kanzaki from her death and him from his guilt.

He knows all that, and while his thoughts are racing extremely fast, he wished. He wished that a savior would come and help them.

And then…

Suddenly, the Alastor that was closest to Kanzaki and was hurling it's blade towards her was destroyed by a cross shaped blade.

Meanwhile, the "little girl" who was baring its fangs and claws and was in the process of sprouting its wings got destroyed by a ball of electricity.

And…

The Iron Golem whose fist was about to hit Kanzak, was stopped by a single right hand.

That single right hand that can destroy any supernatural phenomenon just stopped the Iron Golem's attack.

There's no need to explain what would happen.

Clenching as if crushing something, starting from where the right hand was touching and clenched, the right hand held by the black spiky-haired boy facing Kanzaki mercilessly destroyed the Iron Golem.

* * *

It all happened in an instant.

Soma was still preparing to make his move towards Kanzaki and the monsters, and Kanzaki was still in midair preparing to stop and defend with the best of her abilities.

But…

In an instant…

Because, they couldn't sense their presence with their clouded minds…

They didn't notice that three figures approached their position in high speed and intercepted the attacks of the three remaining monsters that were about to kill Kanzaki.

The one who destroyed the Alastor with the "Holy Cross" was Julius Belmont—the most powerful vampire hunter.

The one who destroyed the Succubus pretending to be a little girl with a lightning spell was a descendant of the Velnadez clan—Yoko Velnadez.

And the one who destroyed the Iron Golem with a single right hand that can destroy any and all illusions was the Imagine Breaker—Kamijou Touma.

As the monsters were simultaneously destroyed, Kanzaki, who was able to dampen her momentum all on her own still lost balance and fell forward towards Kamjou's arms after presumably stopping herself.

"Yo, Kanzaki. Don't put much wait on me. I'm still quite dizzy from moving at that speed."

"Ka-Kamijou Touma!?"

Perhaps she didn't notice it, but the three others who are there outside of her and Kamijou Touma surely noticed that she looked really happy.

"Hmph. Looking so happy like that, did you forget that we also saved you? Clinging to him like that…Why am I so irritated?" muttered by Yoko to herself while pouting cutely.

"Now, now. One of the two we defeated may have been easily dealt with by Kanzaki while barely avoiding a fatal strike from the other. But surely the one from the Iron Golem will surely have killed her. In that situation, I too would surely go after the easier ones to kill. No matter how you look at that situation, the Iron Golem would have done the most damage."

"That is true…then why put him there? If it was you or me, then…"

"Have you forgotten that the Iron Golem is the slowest attacker among the three there? It's also the one with the strongest defense so it's only natural to put the one who can destroy any supernatural defense against it."

"Oh, Yoko-san! You were there?"

As Kanzaki added fuel to the fire, Yoko's aura has grown remarkably darker.

"Kaori-chan~. It seems that you're really lovey-dovey with Kamijou-kun, aren't you? You're so love struck right now that you didn't even feel our presences I see~" said Yoko with a scary smile.

"Lo-love struck?! I-I'm not…It's just that…It's been a while since I last saw him…so I was just…"said Kanzaki while blushing and fidgeting in a cute manner.

As Yoko sees that she can only whisper to herself.

'_I don't know why I'm pissed, but I also don't know why I'm finding her reaction so cute right now.'_

"It seems like we accidentally raised a flag, huh?" said Julius while nodding.

"Yeah, it seems so. And how do you know that term? Aren't you over 50 already?"

"Never mind that, look."

Julius pointed away from Kanzaki and Touma who are chatting with each other. Where he pointed his finger at is what shocked Yoko.

In the direction Julius was pointing, Soma can be seen on his knees, motionless, crying.

"Thank goodness…I thought I'll lose myself again…"

While Soma is crying and muttering to himself, Yoko, and Julius can see the dark power dissipating around him. They thought it must have come from Soma's desire to save Kanzaki, but they eventually realized something. It was Soma's guilt that nearly triggered his transformation. He thought that Kanzaki was going to die regardless of what he do, so he could only feel guilt. And with that guilt, the dark feelings welling within him, enabled him to tap further into his powers, and now…

"Soma!" shouted Yoko as both she and Julius immediately went to him.

"Yoko-san…Julius-san…"

As soon as Soma uttered their names, he collapsed to the ground.

And so…

The _chaos_ that transpired that day, has finally ended, and with the end of the chaos, a new one is surely to begin.

* * *

Somewhere in a dark alley in Academy City…a young black haired man is sweating heavily.

"Hah…that was great…I never thought I'd be able to witness the Dark Lord's power myself…"

As he said this a dark ball of energy appeared on his hand that he held out. Immediately after, the dark ball transformed into a black bat.

"I guess all I can do for now is to observe, huh? Oh well, _a chance to shatter his soul will surely come_. Ahaha…haha…"

With the sinister laugh that came after, all animals in the vicinity immediately fled from the area.

* * *

**Hello, I can see that you've finally finished the chapter. I guess you're wondering why this one took a long time to be put here, and why this one is a little too long compared to the previous chapter.**

**Well, I was trying to keep it as short as possible then all of a sudden, I got carried away and here you go. I ended up making this long, hopefully not boring chapter.I also planned Kanzaki vs Soma to appear in this chapter so when I was trying to build up the events that will lead to that, well, _this_ happened. **

**Anyway, if you're wondering about how some of the characters look like, I will suggest:**

**For the Aulin, you look for "Charlotte Aulin Castlevania" on google. That's how she looks like.**

**For the Morris, look for "Jonathan Morris Castlevania" on google.**

**For the Renard, just look for "Maria Renard symphony of the night", make her hair shorter, then you get her descendant.**

**If you're thinking that this is a pretty cheap move and I just can't think of better character designs, well, you're partially right. But that's not all, I also thought that, "Hey, if they're gonna be the descendants of those guys, then why not make them look like their ancestors?". That's how I ended up making them like that.**

**Anyway, errors blah blah, I know I made a lot. Please bear with it. I just hope my writing improves in the future so that long chapters like this one won't have as much errors as this one does.**

**Please leave your reviews, I'd greatly appreciate that, and…**

**Please give your ideas about the other Dark Lord candidates. If Dimitri has Copying powers, while Dario has Pyrokinesis, what powers would the other Dark lord candidates have? You can think of their name, how they look like, and other descriptions. Oh, and don't forget their powers :D. At least make them a challenge to current Soma haha.**

**Also, if you guys could point out what's out of character or not for some, then that'd be great. I also hope you can tell me how to solve those problems.**

**Now, for finishing this chapter, I don't know what I could give you just yet other than a huge "Thank You". It must have gotten boring at a lot of parts, but if you're reading this now, then I would like to thank you for seeing it to the end.**

**Okay, that's all for now. There are chances that I won't be able to post a new chapter until NT11 is fully translated though. Or at least until we get full spoilers :D  
**

**Okay, that's really all.**

**...**


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